One of the fastest growing areas of communications technology is related to automobile network solutions. The demand and potential for wireless vehicle communication, networking and diagnostic services have recently increased. Although many vehicles on the road today have limited wireless communication functions, such as unlocking a door and setting or disabling a car alarm, new vehicles offer additional wireless communication systems that help personalize comfort settings, run maintenance and diagnostic functions, place telephone calls, access call-center information, update controller systems, determine vehicle location, assist in tracking vehicle after a theft of the vehicle and provide other vehicle-related services. Drivers can call telematics call centers and receive navigational, concierge, emergency, and location services, as well as other specialized help such as locating the geographical position of a stolen vehicle and honking the horn of a vehicle when the owner cannot locate it in a large parking garage. Telematics service providers can offer enhanced telematics services by supplying a subscriber with a digital handset.
A call is received at a call center from a subscriber requesting a service. Call centers provide services to the subscriber by sending a call signal from the call center to the telematics unit in the vehicle. The vehicle must be in a standby mode or awake mode to receive the call signal. A telematics unit will remain in the standby mode for several hours after the vehicle ignition is turned off. After the standby mode is exited the telematics unit goes into a sleep/wake cycle. In one sleep/wake cycle the telematics unit is in a sleep mode for 9 minutes followed by a wake mode for 1 minute. This cycle will repeat for several hours before the telematics unit enters a continuous sleep mode. It is difficult to communicate with the telematics unit during the wake/sleep cycle, since the call center must send a call signal when the telematics unit is in the wake mode to successfully establish communication with the telematics unit.
Cellular activity and other network traffic can cause a communication device to become unavailable. Device availability effects the ability of the call center to establish communication with the telematics unit. A subscriber must wait for the call center to establish communication with the telematics unit before the service is provided.
It is desirable therefore, to provide a method and system for establishing communication to a mobile module, that overcomes the challenges and obstacles described above.